Coleman: Should the Astros make a move for Willy Taveras? A Response

and my little dog, Fallas…

As I was contemplating what to write today’s article on, I stumbled across this blog post by the Chronicle’s new Astros beat writer Bernardo Fallas. It was entitled ‘Should the Astros make a move for Willy Taveras?’ I chuckled to myself, thinking this was a tongue-in-cheek headline. After all, the Astros already have a centerfielder that does everything Taveras does and more, a full bench with bats more potent than his and prospects to take their place for cheaper if needed.

Why on earth would the Astros want Taveras?

Well, friends, Fallas was being serious. He laid out his argument for Taveras, saying he owns a home here and works out with his former teammates. While the idea was ridiculous to me on the surface, I gave Fallas the benefit of the doubt. That is, until I came to this:

Also, if healthy, he can put up decent numbers - his career high for stolen bases is 68 in 2008. He is a career .276 batter with a .321 OBP.

‘Decent numbers’ revolve around a solid batting average and stolen bases, apparently. I mean, he wasn’t referring to a .320 OBP as decent, right? When the league average was .333, anything below that has to be considered something other than decent, right? But, maybe I’m being to harsh on him. After all, Mr. Fallas just moved over from the soccer beat. He may just not have had the time to read all the wonderful articles about sabermetric thinking yet. Heck, I’m sure he hasn’t even had time to read about Moneyball or how Branch Rickey used to emphasize OBP back with the Dodgers.

Former Astros Pitcher Brocail Retires

Not quite as sad as when bro Cale left V.U. but…

After 15 years in Major League Baseball and just as many medical and surgical procedures, former Houston Astros pitcher Doug Brocail told FOX 26 Sports Thursday he is retiring from the game.

“I am retiring because it’s harder to get my arm in shape and the talent just isn’t there anymore,” Brocail said. “There’s no use in just hanging on.”

Brocail began his big league career with the San Diego Padres in 1992 and pitched for them for three years. He would return to San Diego in 2006 and 2007 and also was with the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers and two stints with the Houston Astros, most recently in 2009 when injuries limited him to just 17.2 innings.

“I’ve had a great career and why not go out when I’m feeling good,” Brocail said. It’s time to hand it off to the younger generation.

Keith Law: Top 100 prospects

NO.  PLAYER
1 Jason Heyward, OF, ATL
2 Stephen Strasburg, RHP, WAS
3 Carlos Santana, C, CLE
4 Buster Posey, C, SFO
5 Mike Stanton, OF, FLA
6 Desmond Jennings, OF, TAM
7 Martin Perez, LHP, TEX
8 Dustin Ackley, CF, SEA
9 Justin Smoak, 1B, TEX
10 Jesus Montero, C, NYY
11 Brian Matusz, LHP, BAL
12 Starlin Castro, SS, CHC
13 Neftali Feliz, RHP, TEX
14 Domonic Brown, RF, PHI
15 Wade Davis, RHP, TAM
16 Aroldis Chapman, LHP, CIN
17 Jeremy Hellickson, RHP, TAM
18 Casey Kelly, RHP, BOS
19 Aaron Hicks, RHP, MIN
20 Brett Wallace, 1B, TOR
21 Logan Morrison, 1B, FLA
22 Tyler Matzek, LHP, COL
23 Jenrry Mejia, RHP, NYM
24 Michael Taylor, OF, OAK
25 Zach Britton, LHP, BAL

Scouting reports for the top 25 should be free, I think.

SportsJustice: 7 reasons to be optimistic about the Astros

Perhaps next year
Or maybe even never

Reasons to be cheerful?

I’m not saying the Astros are going to make the playoffs or even be a .500 team. Plenty of things would have to go right for them to finish ahead of the Cardinals and Cubs. That said, spring training is all about optimism, and I’m nothing if not an optimist.

Optimism is not popular in the blogosphere. Negative sells. Astros suck. Drayton sucks.Texans suck. Rockets suck. Sportswriters suck.There, I’ve just summed up my daily mail bag. Guys that spend days upon days in their mother’s basement in their underwear tend to get real bitter about the world.

That’s not me. I’m perky and cute. I’m 95 charisma and 95 percent good looks. I laugh a lot, too. I can’t wait to get to spring training and share a cold one with Milo at the Kissimmee Steakhouse. And when Drayton and I have dinner, well, buddy, you never seen two old white guys have so much fun in your whole life.

• Brad Mills. Don’t underestimate the power of competence and leadership and communication. Those are three things good managers had. I don’t know how many games Cecil Cooper lost last season with his strategic incompetence. But I do know the atmosphere in the clubhouse was the worst I’ve ever been around. It’s not just that Coop was terrible at his job. That he kept the job as long as he did reflected poorly on the intelligence of the people in charge. Mills is smart and organized and will reach out to guys. I don’t know if we’ll be able to quantify what he means in the standings, but it will be significant.

WNST: Snider: Orioles Bring Back Tejada, Which Means Andy MacPhail Finally Deviates From “The Plan”

I guess it’s just coincidental that Tejada was beginning to regress from a power perspective. His 18 homers, in 2007, was the lowest mark of his career, since his first full Major League season - more than a decade ago.

Ahh, but don’t despair …..

Miguel Tejada’s power suffered further outage, at Minute Maid Park, in Houston. That’s right, he hit 13 and 14 homeruns, successively, in his two seasons playing for the Astros - in one of baseball’s featured HOMERUN DERBY HAVENS.

...The Baltimore Orioles have enough attachment to the recent history of Major League Baseball’s drug problems. Some would say the Orioles are prominently represented among the seedier franchises.

What’s the penalty for betraying a town and its fans’ beloved colors of orange and black ??? Miguel Tejada did things the wrong way when he was here. And, evidence exists to suggest he influenced other teammates.

That’s fantastic to hear, huh? On top of the eroding skills at the plate and the substantially diminished fielding range - which I haven’t even addressed - indeed, the potential for a far more substantial risk of bringing Miguel Tejada back to Baltimore is staring squarely at every Orioles loyalist.

He’s gonna be in the same clubhouse with this guy …..

Delightful pictures of Matt Wieters and Adam Jones sticking flowers in syringes follow…

McTaggart: Feliz acclimating, has friend in fold

The way new Astros third baseman Pedro Feliz sees it, there’s nothing wrong with having a few former Phillies on the roster.

Posted because I forgot that Pedro Feliz was no longer a free agent.

Houston signed Feliz to a one-year, $4.5-million contract last month and pegged him to be its starting third baseman, enabling the Astros to use Geoff Blum in more of a utility role. Feliz, who hit .266 with 12 homers and 82 RBIs in 158 games last year for Philadelphia, is one of four former Phillies who are with the Astros.

The Astros traded for Michael Bourn before the 2008 season and signed outfielder Jason Michaels prior to last season, and both have contracts for 2010.

What? No Geoff Geary?

Barron: Gumbel’s steroids commentary on McGwire also cites Bagwell

Sculpt and tone your body for dramatic results with a single Bowflex SelectTech Gumbel!

Here are Gumbel’s comments. Feel free to comment in return.

“Finally tonight, an open letter to baseball’s usual suspects. Dear Barry, Roger, Sammy and Rafael, I’m writing in hopes you saw Mark McGwire’s phony non-apology last week and learned from it. I’m assuming that you, like most people not named Tony LaRussa, got a good laugh out of Mark’s crocodile tears and his self-serving claims about truth, guilt and the pharmaceutical way.

“So on behalf of all fans, do us a favor. If and when you’re ready to come clean, don’t insult us with talk of how much of what you did was God-given and how much was chemically induced. Let us figure that out, OK? And don’t play us for idiots. Spare us the lies about talking ‘roids for health reasons. We’re all grown-ups. You took stuff for the same reason most of us break or bend rules. You thought you could get away with it. And you did.

“You did because commissioner Bud Selig, being Bud, was, of course, asleep at the switch when you suddenly grew Shrek-like necks and bloated biceps. But even Bud’s selling absolution these days. He’s cheering any and all mea culpas, even half-assed ones. If you don’t believe me, just ask A-Rod, Manny, Papi, Jason and the others who’ve come forward because they had to. There may be no crying in baseball, but there is forgiveness, maybe even enough to get you to Cooperstown.

“In closing, guys, please feel free to share this letter with Bagwell, Nomar, Pudge and all those others who went from hitting homers to power outages overnight. Tell ‘em fans are ready to accept what happened. Tell ‘em we’re ready to move on. Tell ‘em that most of us get it...even if they, like you, still don’t.”

Thanks to CTB.

BA: The Wizard of Waxahachie: Paul Richards and the End of Baseball as We Know It

Corbett had at his disposal a deep pool of resources, including Richards’ 1955 book on managing, titled Modern Baseball Strategy, an unfinished Richards manuscript, two recorded oral histories, and decades’ worth of quotes in newspaper stories and The Sporting News. Every reference is meticulously footnoted. With help from Richards’ daughter and surviving friends in Waxahachie, Corbett has augmented the anecdotes and stats, fleshing out Richards’ life so we can follow him from childhood to his death at 77 on a golf course, the one place he loved above all others, even baseball diamonds.

Some winter reading for you, perhaps.

Crawfish Boxes: The Astro Elephant in the Room

The thing that still nags at me is the domestic violence charges Myers faced after an incident with his wife in Boston. The story was not a good one for anyone involved, but as I remember, Myers’ wife did not press charges. Nothing has happened like that since, but it’s out there. Considering the Astros once designated a player for assigment before the story of his domestic violence charges even broke, this seems very hypocritical.

I don’t want to moralize. I don’t like writers playing the moral police with the Hall of Fame or steroids and I don’t want to condemn either the player or the club simply because he had an incident of domestic violence in the past. I certainly wouldn’t be friends with the guy and think what he allegedly did was pretty scummy.  Bad guys can still win the World Series.

But, you can’t have it both ways. The Astros made the decision to deal with Julio Lugo’s situation by immediately cutting ties with him. A valuable player, Lugo was let go as the organziation made a decision based on off-the-field behavior. They drew a line at what’s acceptable behavior. If that’s how they want to run things, I’m fine with it , but you lose any moral high ground when you sign another guy with an alleged incident in his past. Yes, the Lugo situation happened eight years ago and some of the managment has changed, but I get the feeling the Lugo stuff came down from Drayton. He hasn’t gone anywhere (yet).

MLB: Astros reach deal with pitcher Brett Myers

Better get a locker ready at the Galena Park Boxing Academy...pronto.

Right-hander Brett Myers, who won three games as a starting pitcher in the playoffs while helping the Phillies win the World Series in 2008, has reached a deal to join the Astros’ rotation, pending a physical.

Myers was 73-63 with a 4.40 ERA and 21 saves in eight years with the Phillies. Myers went 4-3 with a 4.84 ERA in 18 games last year, including 10 starts, but missed most of the year after undergoing hip surgery.

Houston was willing to stretch its payroll to add Myers, who has a long history with Astros general manager Ed Wade when both men were in Philadelphia. Myers, 29, was drafted in the first-round of the 1999 First-Year Player Draft by the Phillies and reached the Majors in 2002.

Optimism about the Astros? Let me count the ways | SportsJustice | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

I’m not optimistic about his optimism.

Over? Did you say over? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? No!

I can’t say I’m optimistic about the Astros making the playoffs. I’m not even sure they’ll be a .500 team, and there’ll be plenty of days when it seems this franchise will never be good again.

MLB: Clemens awarded for breakout season

No...it’s not another Murray Chass bacne story.

Considering the way the year started for Koby Clemens, he was happy just to be playing in 2009. To lead his league in anything, let alone several offensive categories would be icing on the cake. To win an award for his efforts? Probably didn’t even cross his mind.

Yet here it is, the end of 2009, and Clemens is getting the MiLBY for Best Class A Advanced Hitter. Say what you want about the Astros’ eighth-round pick of the 2005 Draft, that he’s a product of a hitting league and a very friendly ballpark, but it’s difficult to look past the fact that he finished the season with the most RBIs in all of the Minor Leagues, won the California League batting title with a .345 average and led the Class A Advanced circuit in RBIs (121), doubles (45), slugging percentage (.636) and OPS (1.055).

...Critics will say that Clemens is a product of his environment. Not only is the California League friendly for hitters, but his home park in Lancaster is one of the best hitting parks in all of Minor League Baseball. Clemens doesn’t deny this, but there are two things that should be pointed out. While Clemens excelled at home, he wasn’t exactly a slouch on the road (.338/.412/.610). Secondly, everyone else in the Cal League had the same advantage and none of them drove in over 120 runs or slugged over .600.

“It’s almost a perfect storm hitting scenario, especially with the team we had,” Clemens said. “The lineup we had every day made it much more fun. We were putting up eight to 10 runs a game.

MLB: McTaggart: What’s in store for Astros under Mills?

Lower the curtain down on Houston
Lower the curtain down all right
Under the Mills Way tonight

What can we expect from Brad Mills in his first season as manager?

If Mills is anything like his mentor, Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona, the Astros have made a terrific hire. Mills will bring the “Red Sox way” to Houston, which means he’s going to be a master communicator, organizer and motivator.

Francona gave Mills lots of responsibility with the Red Sox, including running Spring Training and communicating with players. We’ve yet to see what kind of in-game strategist Mills will be, but he had plenty of success in the Minors. To help Mills’ cause, the Astros have hired a top-notch pitching coach in Brad Arnsberg.

What’s for certain is Mills’ new, fresh approach can’t be any worse than the toxic clubhouse atmosphere that was created for former Astros manager Cecil Cooper.

What is left fielder Carlos Lee going to provide?

Based on his career averages over 11 seasons in the Majors, Lee will hit somewhere around .291 with 30 homers and 109 RBIs. Those aren’t bad numbers, but Lee remains one of baseball’s most overpaid players. He’s entering the fourth year of a six-year, $100 million deal and makes more money than Albert Pujols. And he is a defensive liability in left field.

Lee remains a good run-producer and solid clutch hitter, but when you consider his contract and his inability to cover ground in left field, his impact on the club is diminished.

25 High And Low Points Of The Decade In Astro-Land (Houston Press)

22. June 25, 2008: Pitcher Shawn Chacon expresses his dismay with being pulled from the starting rotation by putting GM Ed Wade in a chokehold. Wade lives and Chacon is released.

And Stros fans dream of what might have been.

Sports’ Forrest Gump (Globe: His Splendid Moment)

Life is like a box of Cracker Jack: how big of a prize you get depends on how much you prize it.

At 76, former Red Sox outfielder Carroll Hardy is in stellar health, but he knows his obituary is all but set in stone.

The only man ever to pinch hit for Ted Williams.

“I’m kind of excited by it,’’ says Hardy, a glint in his eye. “I think it’s funny.’’

He’s been described as having the good fortune of Forrest Gump, and for good reason. Hardy also played one year in the NFL and caught four touchdown passes from Hall of Fame quarterback Y.A. Tittle. He pinch hit for a young Yaz and a rookie Roger Maris. He was tutored by the legendary Tris Speaker, coached for the volatile Billy Martin in Triple A Denver, and hit a walkoff grand slam at Fenway Park. He was even responsible for a change in the NFL draft.

Heyman: Big teams still have moves to make

Just for BBC:

The Astros are telling teams Lance Berkman is unavailable. The Red Sox are one team to have inquired.

And for the Met fans:

Of Igarashi, the Japanese reliever who’s about to go to the Mets, one Japanese scout said, “I’ve seen him great but he wasn’t great last year.’’

Astro-holic Synonymous:  Ed Wade Killed My Mother…’s Love of the Astros

Anyway, back to the subject of even MORE wasteful expenditures (yes it IS possible) Ed Wade obtained Miguel Tejada, a suspected steroids user, the DAY before the Mitchell Report was made public. Had he waited a day longer, he most likely could have obtained him for significantly less than 3 cheap major leaguers and 2 minor leaguers. Two days after Fast Eddie threw money at Lyons (and no, I don’t believe that some other team offered him 2 years at 3.5 mill/year), the list of non-tenders was revealed.

Let’s take a look at that there list and see if Eddie could have gotten someone just as good and a WHOLE lot cheaper:

BBC’s blog has officially found its new home!  Make sure to check it out.

Astros reach one-year deal with third baseman Feliz

Feliz Navidud, Lisa.

Heading to the winter meetings Sunday night, Ed Wade’s ability to maneuver while trying to build the 2010 Astros revolved around Jose Valverde. Once the star closer declined arbitration late Monday night and LaTroy Hawkins bolted to the Brewers on Wednesday, the Astros’ attack crystallized a bit more with the signing of Brandon Lyon and the acquisition of Matt Lindstrom.

The Astros also finalized a one-year deal with third baseman Pedro Feliz for $4.5 million on Thursday. The deal wpn’t be completed under Feliz completes a physical.

...“We’re leaving here with some pieces in place and some flexibility remaining,” Wade said. “It was conceivable when we made it here on Sunday night that we would have been leaving here with one or two pieces in place and no flexibility and (some) needs remaining.

“So I think in that regard we’re better off. Now, from a performance standpoint, replacing Valverde and Hawkins and (Miguel) Tejada and all those other guys we’re going to have to prove it on the field. But from the standpoint knowing that we had some things we needed to address I think we’ve done a good job.”

Fangraphs: Cameron: The Worst Signing Of The Winter

Don’t tell me Rephlex Records have signed the Locomotive Breath Band!! Oh...it’s only the Brandon Lyon inking.

Ed Wade is the GM equivalent of a bad SNL sketch. The first time he overpaid a middle reliever, we figured out that he didn’t really know how to build a roster. Now, when he gives Brandon Lyon a 3 year, $15 million deal, we just shrug our shoulders and say “yeah, that’s Ed Wade for ya.”

Seriously, $5 million a year for the next three years for Brandon Lyon. We’re not talking about overpaying for a premium bullpen guy. Lyon is a generic middle reliever, the kind of guy who could be replaced by a minor league free agent or a Rule 5 draftee. His career FIP is 4.23, which is below average for a relief pitcher. He doesn’t even have magical FIP-beating properties – his career ERA is 4.20.

...What year does Wade think this is? The market for relief pitchers absolutely cratered a year ago, as teams stopped paying significant money for setup guys who could be effectively replaced by league minimum earners. So far this year, we’ve seen a significant pullback from even that level of spending. The average dollar per win for the first crop of free agents signed this winter has been about $3 million per win. The Astros are paying about $10 million – ten million – per win for Lyon.

They don’t have any money to spend to fix the rest of their bad, old roster, but they can commit $5 million a year to Brandon Lyon through 2012. Moves like this is why the team isn’t good, and won’t be good any time soon. This move is just the latest act in a joke that’s gone on far too long.

MLB.com: Rare snow patrol at Minute Maid

Yep, the Bayou City, known for its oppressive heat and humidity during the baseball season and balmy climate in the winter, was blanketed with several inches of snow Friday afternoon, serving as a chilling reminder the start of Spring Training in sunny Florida is still far away.

Instead of white baseballs flying through the air, the area around Minute Maid Park in downtown saw white snowflakes falling for most of the day on Friday. The ballpark’s retractable roof, which was built to keep out mosquitoes and heat, was closed and covered with a dusting of snow and kept out Jack Frost.

“I’m trying not to look out the window,” Astros general manager Ed Wade said.

Houston’s earliest recorded snowfall—beating last year’s Dec. 10 snow—was enough to force the Astros to close their office at Union Station at 3 p.m. CT so employees could get a head start on what was expected to be a treacherous rush hour.
...
For those like Wade who are used to the snow, the frightful weather outside and the extraordinary reaction by those unaccustomed to the white stuff was somewhat delightful. Baseball games in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and points northeast have been played in bigger snowfalls than what hit Houston on Friday.

Actual graphic/diagram today from the Houston Chronicle: How to drive on ice

Let’s build the 2010 Astros. Together. Like friends. | SportsJustice | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Mister Smarty Pants? What about Ms./Mrs./Miss Smarty Pants?

So, Mister Smarty Pants, this is your chance to walk a mile in their Rockports. This is your chance to stop complaining and to start building. Want to build the 2010 Astros? OK, buddy boy, get started.

BA: Houston Astros Top 10 Prospects

1. Jason Castro, c
2. Jiovanni Mier, ss
3. Jordan Lyles, rhp
4. Sammy Gervacio, rhp
5. Chia-Jen Lo, rhp
6. Ross Seaton, rhp
7. Tanner Bushue, rhp
8. Jay Austin, of
9. Jon Gaston, of
10. T.J. Steele, of

Depressing.

NYT: Forman: Pettitte Falls Short for the Hall of Fame

Mikey...this guy oughta go to that Baseball-Referendum site and get his facts straight!

Beyond those two items, Pettitte’s candidacy starts to unravel. His 3.91 earned run average would be the worst in the Hall of Fame. He did pitch in a hitters’ era, but we can account for that with a stat called ERA+, which is the park-adjusted league average E.R.A. divided by the pitcher’s E.R.A. times 100. In measuring ERA+, 100 is a league-average pitcher, above 100 is better than average and below 100 worse than average. Pettitte’s 116 ERA+ does match up with Hall of Famers like Jim Bunning (114), Robin Roberts (114) and Waite Hoyt (111), but he would still be in the bottom 10 to 20 of all Hall of Fame pitchers, and most of the pitchers with comparable numbers either have a much better peak or many more innings pitched (ERA+ of all Hall of Fame Pitchers.)

Pettitte’s Cy Young and All-Star résumé is thin for a Hall of Fame pitcher as well. His two All-Star Game appearances would tie him with Satchel Paige for dead last among postwar Hall of Fame pitchers. Pettitte did nearly win the 1996 Cy Young Award receiving 11 out of 28 first place votes, but after his sophomore season he never again cracked the top three in Cy Young voting. His 11 first-place votes would place him close to the bottom among Hall of Fame pitchers who competed for Cy Young awards.

Pettitte also lacks what Bill James called black ink — league-leading totals in important categories like earned run average or wins. In 1996, he led the American League in wins, but beyond that he has never led the league in an important category, finishing in the top 10 in E.R.A. only three times and innings pitched just twice. It wasn’t so much that he was injury-prone (five games started top tens), but he never was good enough to work deep into games and rack up a lot of innings.

Gaston gets one more year

Any doubts about the immediate future of Cito Gaston with the Toronto Blue Jays were erased last night when the American League club announced the 65-year-old manager will be back next season to honour the final year of his contract.

After that, Gaston will have a soft landing, retiring to become a consultant with the Blue Jays for the start of the 2011 Major League Baseball season.

As part of the four-year consulting agreement he has agreed to, Gaston will advise and consult in all areas of the team’s baseball operations, including the major-league club, spring training, minor-league operations and scouting.

Other notes:
- Gene Tenace retires, with Dwayne Murphy taking over as hitting coach
- Brad Arnsberg leaves to sign with the Astros as pitching coach
- Brian Butterfield moves from bench coach to 3B coach
- Nick Leyva moves from 3B to bench coach

It’ll be very interesting to see how the Toronto and Houston staffs change with the movement of Arnsberg.

Astros Select Brad Mills As Manager

The Astros chose Mills, who has no previous major league managerial experience, after a third round of interviews over former Astros manager Phil Garner and Dave Clark, who served as interim manager for the final 13 games.

Justice: Astros have a very bad day, and that’s being kind

It’s not Rainbow Guts throwupback uni-day already...is it?

Manny Acta was the guy they wanted. The Astros liked everything about him. His presence and personality. How he forged relationships with players. His ability to run a game.

I said from the beginning that there was no right answer in this search for a new manager. Manny Acta would have been terrific, but then so would Phil Garner, Bob Melvin, Tim Bogar, Jim Fregosi and a dozen or so others.

But the Astros settled on Manny Acta. Ed Wade and Tal Smith went through the list and the interviews and decided he should be the guy to lead the Astros through an important period in their history.

There’s no use surgarcoating what happened these last 48 hours. Drayton McLane refused to offer Acta a three-year contract. He offered two, and even when the Cleveland Indians offered three, he held firm.

This is the first time McLane has ever attempted to hire a manager or general manager that was being sought by other clubs, and he wouldn’t get into a bidding war.

...Why he decided to draw the line at three years is absolutely amazing considering the millions he has thrown at has-beens Mike Hampton, Russ Ortiz, etc. It’s a funny time to get religion. I wish he’d taken a similar tough line when negotiations began with Carlos Lee, but that’s another story.

Solomon: Whom should Astros hire? Ask Dierker

They’re whistling the Hello, Larry theme song!

Dierker took the team to the playoffs as division champs four times in his five seasons at the helm (1997-2001). In their 43 seasons without Dierker as manager, the Astros have claimed only two division titles and made the playoffs just five times.

“You would think that after that type run, it would be logical for my name to be on the list this time and it’s not,” Dierker said, only half-jokingly. “I want the team to be successful and I want the team to win, so I am somewhat disappointed that no one wants my opinion on how to get that done.

“It’s a little frustrating because they’ve done some things in recent years, and I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, have you thought about this?’ But nobody cared to check with me on it.”

...Then how will we know if the Astros hire the right guy?

“Well, if they hired me …,” Dierker cracked.

That didn’t make any sense the last time they did it.

Astros fans can only hope they do something just as crazy — and right — this time.

Because it matters.

MLB.com: Boston assistants interview with Astros

Astros general manager Ed Wade has often said dismissing Terry Francona as manager in Philadelphia was the biggest mistake he’s made in his professional career, and on Monday he turned to a pair of Francona disciples in an effort to fill Houston’s managerial vacancy.

Boston Red Sox coaches Brad Mills and Tim Bogar were the final candidates from a group of 10 to interview for the position in a span of six days with Wade, assistant general managers Ricky Bennett, David Gottfried and Bobby Heck and special assistant Enos Cabell.

It would help if they could bring some of the players along as well.

S.I.: Reiter: Ausmus’ huge impact on Dodgers can’t be measured by statistics

Defying nature, Brad Ausmus surpasses it!

By most statistical measures, Ausmus is among the poorest hitters ever to play in the major leagues for any significant length of time. His career batting average is .252, he has never hit as many as 10 home runs in a season, and his career OPS+ (an advanced statistic that normalizes a batter’s on-base-plus-slugging-percentage for the park and league in which he played, and for which 100 represents an average player) stands at 75, which is the 11th worst among the 431 players who have ever amassed more than 6,500 plate appearances.

...But just how “amazing” is Ausmus, in terms of his ability to help a team prevent runs and, as a result, win baseball games? That’s a question that is very difficult to answer by statistical measures. In fact, the true impact that a defense-first—indeed, defense-only—catcher like Ausmus can have on a club represents one of the greatest disconnects between the school of brilliant statisticians whose work has in the past few decades revolutionized the way we understand the game, and the equally astute scouts, managers and executives who use more traditional observational methods to make their assessments. The former group generally believes that the offensive deficiencies of a player like Ausmus are so significant that the sum of his other skills could never make up for them, while the opinions of the latter group account for Ausmus’ long and lucrative big-league career.

In his second stint in Houston, which ran from 2001 through ‘08, and represents the period in which Ausmus’ familiarity with opposing batters and his own pitchers was at its most developed, Astros pitchers compiled an ERA of 3.80 in the 7,938.2 innings that Ausmus spent behind the plate, and a 4.81 ERA in the 3,615.1 innings that one of the team’s 11 other catchers caught. An enormous difference, to be sure. But how much of it can we ascribe to the fact that Ausmus was generally called upon to catch his club’s elite pitchers—Oswalt, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte—while leaving the scrubs for his backups? How much of that ERA can we ascribe to the elite pitchers themselves, and how much to Ausmus’ ability to inspire confidence in them, his technical prowess and his knowledge of opposing batters? (Oswalt, Clemens and Pettitte each had the lowest single-season ERAs of their careers while throwing to Ausmus.) Further, how much higher might Astros pitchers’ ERA have been when Ausmus was not behind the plate if not for his influence on the pitching staff, and on his fellow catchers, as a whole, in terms of game-planning and confidence-boosting?

Yahoo!: Yost, Ready meets with Astros

For this article, I had to come out of hiding and post.  I’m pulling for you to get the job, Ned! :P

Ned Yost says he knows how to turn around the Houston Astros. The former Milwaukee Brewers manager met with the team on Thursday, the third candidate to interview to become Houston’s skipper next season.

The Astros plan to interview a total of 10 candidates, including former manager Phil Garner. San Diego Padres hitting coach Randy Ready met with the team later Thursday.
...
“I don’t think nine holes they have to fill,” Yost said. “I think it’s a couple of key spots and they can definitely be a contender again.”

Yost sat out the 2009 season and said he used the time off to evaluate how he could improve as a manager. He said no other teams have contacted him about their openings.

“There are a lot of areas where I think I can get better and be a little bit smarter in certain areas,” he said. “It was beneficial to sit and to be able to take account of all those.”

(Yost, Garner, and Ready?  It’s like a walk down Brewers memory lane)